Tennis fans tuning into the next Wimbledon tennis tournament in July can also tune into AI-generated commentary.
IBM is working with the All England Club to launch the new feature that will be accessible via the Wimbledon app and website, while fans can still choose to listen to regular commentary from the BBC.
The feature is powered by IBM’s Watsonx AI platform, has been trained in the “unique language of tennis,” and is slated to provide narration that is “informative and engaging.”
In just under a few seconds, the system tracks and collects data from around the court and of the players; it is then fed into the AI platform before a chatbot produces the commentary that can be relayed as text or audio to the viewer.
“This year, we’re introducing new features for our digital platforms that use the latest AI technology from IBM to help fans gain even more insight into the singles draw and access commentary on a wider variety of matches through our match highlights videos.”
IBM’s senior VIP of marketing, Jonathan Adashek, said AI has helped grow audiences for major sporting events.
AI’s Wider Role in Society
The move comes as political and business leaders grapple with the impact of AI on a range of areas.“Roles such as editors, print production journalists, proofreaders, photo editors, and assistants will no longer exist like they do today.”
In March, CEO and publisher Mathias Döpfner issued a stark warning to staff on the impact of AI.
“Understanding this change is essential to a publishing house’s future viability,” Döpfner added. “Only those who create the best original content will survive.”
In the United States, publishers have been a bit more conservative with the deployment of AI.
“The desire to go fast was a mistake for some of the other news services,” said Renn Turiano, senior vice president and head of product at Gannett, in comments obtained by Reuters.
“We’re not making that mistake.”
Meanwhile, media mogul Barry Diller, who co-founded the Fox Broadcasting Company, was blunt in his views of AI.
Diller compared the impact of AI to that of online news on the traditional media industry, saying there was “enormous destruction” of newsrooms.